BTC block reward miners have come under fire in the U.S. for their noise pollution. In Arkansas, legislators are aiming at the sector for a new reason: building close to military facilities.
A new bill tabled before the Arkansas Senate seeks to prohibit miners from operating within 30 miles of a U.S. military facility. Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Ricky Hill and House Speaker Brian Evans, raises national security concerns, which have sprung up elsewhere in the U.S. recently as Chinese miners expand operations in the country.
The bill seeks to amend the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 to add a new section that states: “Operation of digital asset mining business within a thirty-mile radius of a military facility is prohibited.”
It defines a military facility as a physical location in the state that is operated by the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard to house military personnel or equipment, support training and operations or serve as a command center. This includes bases and camps, hospitals and clinics and arsenals.
The bill demands that all miners operating within this radius shut down their mining farms as soon as it’s signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. However, any miner that was operational before December 31, 2024, can continue to operate, but if the operation changes hands, it must shut down.
According to local outlets, the new bill seems to target a new mining facility under construction in Cabot, Lonoke County. The facility is located just five miles from the Little Rock Air Force Base, which the Department of Defense uses to train pilots, navigators, and flight engineers.
The mine, owned by Florida-based and local businessman Steve Landers Jr.-owned Interstate Holdings, has been heavily criticized by locals and their leaders since construction started. In December, county officials, led by Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade, held a press conference in which they criticized the mine’s noise pollution.
“We will not stand for this, and we will fight vehemently to address this company’s efforts. We will join with our neighbors in Lonoke County and our state senators and our representatives and legally do anything within our power to remove this from our community,” the mayor stated.
Sen. Hill, who sponsored the latest Senate bill, was among the speakers, and he raised national security concerns.
“Why did they pick this facility that’s less than five miles away from our air base? This is a national security concern.”
Interstate has pushed back against the bill, with the company’s Vice President, Dustin Curtis, noting that the company has never violated noise laws and is not linked to China, which are the two most common criticisms for miners.
“This bill would make Arkansas the only state in America with anything like this. No one from the governor’s office or attorney general’s office asked for this,” he told a local outlet.
Landers, the local auto dealer who owns Interstate, further criticized the bill as ‘anti-Trump.’ The Republican president has insisted that he wants to make the U.S. the mining capital.
“We’re proud Americans and just want to be good neighbors and help give Arkansans a chance to take advantage of what we believe to be a good investment,” Landers stated.
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